International pre-service teachers' self-confidence in critical reflective thinking and writing through an intercultural Patches program

This paper describes part of an action research study that was designed to explore the outcomes of an ongoing program in which the participants, a group of domestic and international pre-service teachers and lecturers, worked together in reflective writing workshops. While the primary long-term goal of the program was to develop the intercultural competence and understanding of all of the participants through social activities, the development of social relationships was initiated and supported by involving the participants in weekly writing workshops that focused on shared salient skills of critical reflective thinking and writing. The focus of this paper is upon the outcomes for the international students, a cohort of second year pre-service teachers from Malaysia. Findings indicated that the program was successful in developing the Malaysian pre-service teachers’ self-confidence in perceiving themselves as writers and future teachers of writing, in shifting their focus from writing product to writing process and content, and in increasing the depth of their critical reflective thinking and writing

Domestic and international strategies in the Queensland wine industry

Purpose Over the past decade, the Queensland wine industry has experienced a greater percentage growth than the Australian national average. The aim of the research undertaken for this article is to identify specific national and international strategies that have allowed the industry to achieve this level of growth. Design/methodology/approach The study involved a quantitative survey of all Queensland wineries at the time (n=101), using a five-point Likert-scaled questionnaire with questions developed from the literature, together with a small-scale qualitative survey involving in-depth interviews of winery managers and industry leaders. Findings The findings indicated that key strategies in the domestic sector included a focus on cellar door sales combined with establishing links with the tourism industry, together with an incremental expansion of domestic markets. For the international sector, additional strategies included targeting familiar, psychically-close and niche markets in the initial stages of exporting, as well as taking advantage of firm-specific strengths and managerial competencies. Originality/value Not previously regarded as a major wine producing region of Australia, the Queensland wine industry has received limited attention in the literature, particularly the reasons for its rapid growth in recent years. The article helps to identify the strategies used by wineries in growing the industry.

An investigation of gaseous and particulate emissions from compression ignition engines operated with alternative fuels, injection technologies, and combustion strategies

Whilst the compression ignition (CI) engine exhibits many design advantages relative to its spark ignition engine counterpart; such as: high thermal efficiency, fuel economy and low carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions, the issue of Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM) emissions continues to be an unresolved problem for the CI engine. Primarily, this thesis investigates a range of DPM mitigation strategies such as alternative fuels, injection technologies and combustion strategies conducted with a view to determine their impact on the physico-chemical properties of DPM emissions, and consequently to shed light on their likely human health impacts. Regulated gaseous emissions, Nitric oxide (NO), Carbon monoxide (CO), and Hydrocarbons (HCs), were measured in all experimental campaigns, although the major focus in this research program was on particulate emissions...

Networked reading : using AustLit to assist reading and understanding of texts from the past

In response to a focus on reading, this paper examines the notion of reading online; as such it uses the term ‘networked reading’ to describe any act of reading in an online or digital environment. In accordance with this notion of ‘networked’ reading, the paper provides a broad introduction to AustLit: the Australian Literature Resource. This is followed by an examination of a suite of services and digital tools (LORE) developed by the Aus-e-Lit project that extends the scope of AustLit records and facilitates links to external resources. The focus of the final section of the paper is on a collection of Full Text resources located within the AustLit subset Children’s Literature Digital Resources (CLDR). It proposes a number of ways in which these texts, and an accompanying anthology of critical articles, can be utilised in classrooms across the Primary, Middle and Senior School spectrum.

Metacognitive strategy instruction in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) listening skill

Listening skill is allocated inadequate consideration in English language instruction and learning in Iran. At the school level, listening skill is not taught but reading and writing skills are taught traditionally. At the college level, reading skill is emphasised. For students seeking IELTS certification, institutes teach listening skill within the framework of a Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach. Nonetheless, despite the official syllabus, many teachers tend to test rather than teach listening skill. Currently, listening skill in the curriculum is embedded in an oral comprehension teaching approach through multiple choice written responses in the institutes. Therefore, the process of explicitly teaching listening is overlooked with a strong emphasis on the post hoc assessment of the products of listening. This study used a mixed methods approach to investigate the relationship between metacognitive strategy instruction and listening performance, metacognitive awareness and use of metacognitive strategies in listening. Three research questions were addressed in this study: - Is there a relationship between metacognitive strategy instruction (planning, monitoring and evaluation) and Iranian High Intermediate students¡¦ listening? „ - Is there a relationship between metacognitive strategy instruction and Iranian High Intermediate students¡¦ metacognitive awareness of listening? - Does metacognitive strategy instruction help Iranian High Intermediate students¡¦ use of metacognitive strategies during listening? A single group (N = 30) of High Intermediate level tertiary students in Iran were guided through a metacognitive strategy instruction over one semester (10 weeks). The first research question was measured through IELTS listening tests, which tracked any change of students’ listening performance. The second research question was analysed through results of a Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) to survey students’ awareness of metacognitive strategies in listening. Finally, the third research question was analysed through interviews, which explored students’ use of metacognitive strategies in listening. Results indicate that High Intermediate students developed listening performance, but there were no significant changes in metacognitive awareness in listening. Students reported in the interviews that they used multiple strategies (cognitive and metacognitive) to approach listening. Implications for English teaching in Iran and other contexts are discussed.

Pedagogy and paradox : teaching interpretation in a religious community

A qualitative, discourse analytic study of literate practices in a small religious community in a northern Australian city. The chapter documents how this community constructs religious reading and writing, affiliated ideologies and theologies, and how readers/hearers/learners are positions vis a vis the authority of sacred text.

Trait anxiety and coping strategies among ballet dancers

This study examined relationships between competitive trait anxiety and coping strategies among ballet dancers. Participants were 104 classical dancers (81 females and 23 males) ranging in age from 15 to 35 years (mean 19.4 years; SD 3.8 years) from three professional ballet companies, two private dance schools, and two university dance courses in Australia. Participants completed the Modified COPE scale and the Sport Anxiety Scale. Trait anxiety scores, in particular for somatic anxiety and worry, were significant predictors of 7 of the 12 coping strategies (wishful thinking, r2 = 42.3%; selfblame, r2 = 35.7%; suppression of competing activities, r2 = 27.1%; venting of emotions, r2 = 23.2%; denial, r2 = 17.7%; effort, r2 = 16.6%; active coping, r2 = 14.3%). Approximately 96% of dancers could be classified correctly as high or low trait-anxious from their reported coping style. No significant effects of gender or status (professional versus students) were found. Findings showed that high trait-anxious athletes tend to use more maladaptive, emotion-focused coping strategies compared with low trait-anxious athletes; a tendency that has been proposed to lead to negative performance effects. Dancers who are by nature anxious about performance may need special attention to help them to learn to cope with performance-related stress. Med Probl Perform Art 18:59–64, 2003.

Work integrated research higher degree studies : experiences, benefits, barriers and coping strategies

Attributed to the changing social, political and economic landscape of the ‘knowledge economy’, Australian universities are under pressure to produce researchers that have a variety of skills which meet the demands of an increasingly diverse job market. As a consequence, the Australian PhD now includes a range of doctoral degrees. This paper reports on the experiences of two PhD students engaged in an informally managed research higher degree program described in this paper as a Work Integrated Research Higher Degree (WIRHD). Their learning process shares the attributes from both the traditional PhD program and professional doctorates. However, because of the blended nature of the learning contexts, what students need to manage within the WIRHD is much more complicated than the established RHD programs. An exploratory case study approach exploring experiences, benefits, barriers and coping strategies was conducted with the view to develop a preliminary integrative framework that attempts to explain the various contexts that influence the learning experience of WIRHD candidates. The paper concludes with some recommended strategies for helping WIRHD candidates to manage the challenges associated with their learning process.

School libraries, teacher-librarians and their contribution to student literacy development in Gold Coast schools

This is the first research focusing on Gold Coast school libraries and teacher- librarians. It presents a detailed picture of library provision and staffing at a representative group of 27 government and non-government schools at the Gold Coast. It shows links between employment of a teacher-librarian and higher NAPLAN reading and writing scores. And it presents the principals’ generally positive views about teacher-librarians’ contribution to reading and literacy at their schools. The findings respond in part to the recent government inquiry’s call (House of Representatives, 2011) for research about the current staffing of school libraries in Australia, and the influence of school libraries and teacher-librarians on students’ literacy and learning outcomes. While the study has focused on a relatively small group of school libraries, it has produced a range of significant outcomes: • An extensive review of international and Australian research showing impacts of school libraries and teacher-librarians on students’ literacy and learning outcomes • Findings consistent with international research showing: - An inverse relationship between lower student to EFT library staff ratio and higher school NAPLAN scores for reading and writing - Schools that employ a teacher-librarian tend to achieve school NAPLAN scores for respective year levels that are higher than the national mean It is anticipated that the study’s findings will be of interest to education authorities, school leadership teams, teacher-librarians, teachers and researchers. The findings provide evidence to: • inform policy development and strategic planning for school libraries that respond to the literacy development needs of 21st century learners • inform school-based management of school libraries • inform curriculum development and teacher-librarian practice • support further collaborative research on a State or national level • enhance conceptual understandings about relationship(s) between school libraries, teacher-librarians and literacy/information literacy development • support advocacy about school libraries, teacher-librarians and their contribution to literacy development and student learning in Australian schools SLAQ President Toni Leigh comments: “It is heartening to see findings which validate the critical role teacher-librarians play in student literacy development and the positive correlation of higher NAPLAN scores and schools with a qualified teacher-librarian. Also encouraging is the high percentage of school principals who recognise the necessity of a well resourced school library and the positive influence of these libraries on student literacy”. This research arises from a research partnership between School Library Association of Queensland (SLAQ) and Children and Youth Research Centre, QUT. Lead researcher: Dr Hilary Hughes, Children and Youth Research Centre, QUT Research assistants: Dr Hossein Bozorgian, Dr Cherie Allan, Dr Michelle Dicinoski, QUT SLAQ Research Reference Group: Toni Leigh, Marj Osborne, Sally Fraser, Chris Kahl and Helen Reynolds Reference: House of Representatives. (2011). School libraries and teacher librarians in 21st century Australia. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=ee/schoollibraries/report.htm

Communication and the casualisation of nursing : a critical ethnography

The contemporary working environment is being rapidly reshaped by technological, industrial and political forces. Increased global competitiveness and an emphasis on productivity have led to the appearance of alternative methods of employment, such as part-time, casual and itinerant work, allowing greater flexibility. This allows for the development of a core permanent staff and the simultaneous utilisation of casual staff according to business needs. Flexible workers across industries are generally referred to as the non-standard workforce and full-time permanent workers as the standard workforce. Even though labour flexibility favours the employer, increased opportunity for flexible work has been embraced by women for many reasons, including the gender struggle for greater economic independence and social equality. Consequently, the largely female nursing industry, both nationally and internationally, has been caught up in this wave of change. This ageing workforce has been at the forefront of the push for flexibility with recent figures showing almost half the nursing workforce is employed in non-standard capacity. In part, this has allowed women to fulfil caring roles outside their work, to ease off nearing retirement and to supplement the family income. More significantly, however, flexibility has developed as an economic management initiative, as a strategy for cost constraint. The result has been the development of a dual workforce and as suggested by Pocock, Buchanan and Campbell (2004), associated deep-seated resentment and the marginalisation of part-time and casual workers by their full-time colleagues and managers. Additionally, as nursing currently faces serious recruitment and retention problems there is urgent need to understand the factors which are underlying present discontent in the nursing profession. There is an identified gap in nursing knowledge surrounding the issues relating to recruitment and retention. Communication involves speaking, listening, reading and writing and is an interactive process which is central to the lives of humans. Workplace communication refers to human interaction, information technology, and multimedia and print. It is the means to relationship building between workers, management, and their external environment and is critical to organisational effectiveness. Communication and language are integral to nursing performance (Hall, 2005), in twenty-four hour service however increasing fragmentation due to part-time and casual work in the nursing industry means that effective communication management has become increasingly difficult. More broadly it is known that disruption to communication systems impacts negatively on consumer outcomes. Because of this gap in understanding how nurses view their contemporary nursing world, an interpretative ethnographic study which progressed to a critical ethnographic study, based on the conceptual framework of constructionism and interpretativism was used. The study site was a division within an acute health care facility, and the relationship between increasing casualisation of the nursing workforce and the experiences of communication of standard and non-standard nurses was explored. For this study, full-time standard nurses were those employed to work in a specific unit for forty hours per week. Non-standard nurses were those employed part-time in specific units or those nurses employed to work as relief pool nurses for shift short falls where needed. Nurses employed by external agencies, but required to fill in for shifts at the facility were excluded from this research. This study involved an analysis of observational, interview and focus group data of standard and non-standard nurses within this facility. Three analytical findings - the organisation of nursing work; constructing the casual nurse as other; and the function of space, situate communication within a broader discussion about non-standard work and organisational culture. The study results suggest that a significant culture of marginalisation exists for nurses who work in a non-standard capacity and that this affects communication for nurses and has implications for the quality of patient care. The discussion draws on the seven elements of marginalisation described by Hall, Stephen and Melius (1994). The arguments propose that these elements underpin a culture which supports remnants of the historically gendered stereotype "the good nurse" and these cultural values contribute to practices and behaviour which marginalise all nurses, particularly those who work less than full-time. Gender inequality is argued to be at the heart of marginalising practices because of long standing subordination of nurses by the powerful medical profession, paralleling historical subordination of women in society. This has denied nurses adequate representation and voice in decision making. The new knowledge emanating from this study extends current knowledge of factors surrounding recruitment and retention and as such contributes to an understanding of the current and complex nursing environment.

School libraries, teacher-librarians and literacy at Gold Coast schools : research findings

This paper reports research about school libraries, teacher-librarians and their contribution to literacy development. It presents an evidenced based snapshot, from the principals’ perspective, of 27 school libraries in the Gold Coast area of Australia. These new Australian findings show: • an evidenced based snapshot of school libraries and teacher-librarians, from the principals’ perspective • indications that school NAPLAN scores for reading and writing were generally higher when (a) student to library staff ratios were lower (i.e. better) and (b) the school had a teacher-librarian. The research responds to the Australian Government inquiry into school libraries and teacher-librarians (2010-11) which identified an urgent need for current data about provision and staffing of school libraries and their influence on student literacy and learning. In light of the National plan for school improvement (Australian Government, 2013), the findings are of potential interest to education authorities, school leadership teams, teacher-librarians, teachers and researchers. They offer evidence to inform policy development, strategic planning and advocacy about school libraries and teacher-librarians in supporting the reading, literacy and learning needs of 21st century learners.

School libraries and teacher-librarians : evidence of their contribution to student literacy and learning

International research provides compelling evidence that school libraries and teacher-librarians make a significant contribution to student literacy and learning outcomes. After summarising previous research, this article presents recent research focused on Gold Coast schools. These new Australian findings present an evidenced based snapshot of school libraries and teacher-librarians, from the principals’ perspective. They indicate that school NAPLAN scores for reading and writing were generally higher when student-to-library staff ratios were lower (i.e. better) and when the school employed a teacher-librarian. In light of the National Plan for School Improvement, the findings are of potential interest to education authorities, policy makers, school leadership teams, teacher-librarians, teachers, parents and researchers. They offer evidence to inform policy development and strategic planning for school libraries and professional staffing.

Natural and engineered plasmin inhibitors : applications and design strategies

Plasmin is the primary enzyme responsible for dissolution of fibrin in the circulatory system. Plasminogen, the zymogen of plasmin is expressed ubiquitously in the human body [1], with the predominant source being the liver [2, 3]. Plasminogen is produced as an 810 amino acid protein with a 19 amino acid leader peptide, which is cleaved during secretion to produce the mature 791 amino acid one-chain zymogen. This is converted to plasmin by cleavage of the Arg561 - Val562 scissile bond [4], resulting in an active protease consisting of two disulfide linked chains. The amino-terminal heavy chain (residues Glu1-Arg561) is comprised of a plasminogen/apple/nematode (PAN) domain [5] and five kringle domains of approximately equal size [6] while the light chain (residues Val562-Asn791) contains a serine protease domain homologous to trypsin with a catalytic triad comprising His603, Asp646 and Ser741 [7]. Both plasmin and plasminogen occur in two forms, full length and a Lys77-Lys78 activated variant produced through self catalysis (Figure 1). The former exists in a tight conformation through binding of Lys50 and/or Lys62 to kringle domain 5 [8, 9] while Lys78-plasminogen assumes a more relaxed conformation rendering it more susceptible to plasmin conversion [10, 11].